Adventures
by GloriousPond
Summary: Life after Journey's End.


The Powell estates were never a heavily trafficked area. At least, they weren't until the Doctor came and Rose left. Then there would be a flurry of movement and a rabble of voices once a week or so when the TARDIS would appear and a boisterous reunion ensued. For Rose and the Doctor, they had been away for perhaps weeks. For Jackie and Mickey, it would be maybe a matter of days. But because of the dangers and distances they knew Rose would be facing, they always greeted her as though it really had been weeks. There would be much hugging and screaming and excited exclamations. Then the group would move inside the apartment where Rose would gush over her journeys and give her mother trinkets and jewelry she had picked up in flea markets across the universe.

But now that the Tylers were gone and Mickey no longer had a reason to hang around, the Powell estates resumed their original run-down quietness. The residents continued about their regular, hushed business. No one missed the Tylers, not really. No one noticed the Doctor when he was there, and no one noticed his absence. Once again, the Powell estates became perfectly unnoticed.

But every once in a while, when the sky glowed red and violet and the sun set over the tops of the apartment buildings, an ancient blue box would appear subtly beside the red and weathered brick of the dividing wall. A man with ruffled hair and a long coat would emerge from the box and stand silently, looking up at the apartment that his lost love once inhabited. Then he would turn his face toward the stars and chart the paths they had travelled together. Sometimes his face would be different, but his eyes were always the same: filled with longing and such a deep, deep sadness. And he was always alone.

On the other side of the void, on the front porch of a mansion so very different from the Powell estates, Rose Tyler would gaze at the sky, watching the stars that looked the same but were not. She would remember the adventures she had been on with a man who was so very far away and dream about exploring these stars that were the same but not. The Doctor would come out on the porch and take her hand, the Doctor who was the same man, but more human. His hair was starting to gray around the temples and the smile lines around his eyes were now slightly more defined. But then, so we're hers. Together, they would stand in the evening air, sometimes joined by Tony - who was 11 now - or Jackie. Sarah Jane would be asleep now, in her crib with the nightlight projecting galaxies onto the ceiling.

The Doctor and Rose had made quite a life for themselves, though it did feel strange being rather permanently domestic. There had been a wedding, of course. Jackie wouldn't have given Rose and the Doctor anything less than inviting everyone Pete knew, and this was one thing Rose couldn't deny her mother. It was a large affair, but they held it at home. The ballroom of the mansion had been transformed, with rows of chairs and flower garlands twisted around the bannister of the grand staircase. As Rose came down the stairs in her simple, elegant gown, she could see the tears in her Doctor's eyes as he grinned with unbridled joy. It was an expression she knew so well, and she could feel her own tears. Naturally, there was a huge party after the ceremony. For Rose, the only thing that could make the evening any better was if Mickey had been there to joke and poke fun. As it was, there was laughing and music and so much dancing.

A year later, their daughter was born. They named her Sarah Jane.

These were the memories Rose cherished. As she would look up at the stars on those nights, sometimes she would still dream of the journeys she had been on and all the places she still wanted to see. But more often those dreams would be replaced with thoughts of the present. Less and less she wanted to be anywhere else than where she was right now. She would reflect on her life with contentment and realize some adventures could only happen at home. Those were the adventures she wanted most.

Across the void, a lonely traveler would sigh and step once more into his box. The sound of the disappearing time machine was the only sound on the quiet street.


End file.
